Board of Education

‘Politics Divide School Communities’: Board of Ed Chair Addresses Partisanship at Final Meeting

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New Canaan’s longtime Board of Education chair during her final meeting last week expressed gratitude to the district’s administration, fellow school board members, municipal officials and the wider community while also calling for an end to partisanship. Katrina Parkhill, a school board member for nearly seven years and its chair for the past four—encompassing the entire COVID-19 pandemic—said she had three messages after reflecting on her time on the elected body, starting with “stay the course.”

“I believe that the foundation of our school system’s success is predicated on how we, and so many before us, work together to lead our district forward, maintain a culture of mutual trust and respect, and put students at the center of everything we do,” Parkhill said a final Board meeting for herself and fellow BOE member Bob Naughton, held Nov. 6 in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School (the eve of Election Day). 

“These are qualities that have defined New Canaan Public Schools for years and we should never take them for granted,” she continued. “As we continue to move through this challenging and transformative period in education and in our nation, we must continue to lean into these qualities and nurture and respect how we got here. Most of our policies and Board practices have been in place for a long time, and they have served us well.

Board of Education

Board of Ed Divided on Filling Vacant Seat [UPDATED]

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Republicans on the Board of Education said last week that they won’t fill a vacancy on the elected body because it could interfere with the party’s upcoming Caucus. Former Chair Dan Bennett resigned April 26. Under Section 7-4 of the Town Charter, the Board of Ed can fill a vacancy prior to the next municipal election, where a successor is elected to fill the balance of the term (Bennett’s four-year term expires in 2025). “If the Board of Education fails to fill any vacancy which occurs on the Board within 90 days after the vacancy occurs, the Board of Selectmen may fill such vacancy until the next biennial municipal election,” according to the Charter. During a special meeting held July 5, Board of Ed Chair Katrina Parkhill said, “Of note and interest to this Board, the Charter language suggests that it would like the Board to act, but also acknowledges that there could be circumstances under which the Board cannot or chooses not to act.”

“Since May, our Board has undergone a process to evaluate candidates who wanted to be considered for the vacancy,” Parkhill continued at the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School and via videoconference.

Board of Education

Superintendent: District To Collect Vaccination Status of New Canaan Public Schools Families

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Anticipating that the question of requiring masks in school could become local even sooner than mid-February, the district this week will reach out to school parents to verify their own families’ vaccination status so that the data is in hand when the time comes to make a local decision, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi said Monday. District officials will draft a plan for the Board of Education’s review that looks at “local data and metrics to make that determination for the district,” Luizzi said during the school board’s regular meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School. That data will include vaccination rates, percentage of positive cases, number of cases per 100,000 and “longitudinal trends” that indicate “which way the numbers are moving,” Luizzi said during an update to the Board of Ed on COVID-19. “We are going to be working with our district health advisors and narrow that down and figure out what those ‘cut points’ should be, as we have some experience in the past. To prepare for that, now that the second [COVID-19 vaccine] shot clinic has occurred, we are going to be asking families to indicate their vaccination status for us.

Board of Education

Superintendent: District Shortens Quarantining Period for Families Traveling Out-of-State for Sports Tournaments

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New Canaan Public Schools officials say they’ve updated a quarantining requirement that affects many sports-oriented families. 

Until this week, if a family traveled out-of-state for more than 24 hours for a sports tournament, they’d be required to quarantine for a minimum of seven days after testing negative for COVID-19 virus on their return, or 10 days without a test-out, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi told members of the Board of Education said during the elected body’s meeting last week. Luizzi said during the meeting, held May 3 via videoconference, that he and others were seeking approval from health officials to update the change the requirement so that kids involved in sports could return to school faster. 

In email to the school community Tuesday, Luizzi said district officials now are allowing students to return to in-person learning with a negative PCR test after returning to Connecticut. “Having raised two daughters who are both student-athletes, I know the challenges this particular DPH/CDC guideline may have caused, and I’m thrilled to be making this welcome adjustment to our protocols,” he said in the email. The Connecticut Department of Public Health’s guidance is based on that of the CDC, and is more strict than rules that apply to other types of travel, Luizzi said during the Board of Ed meeting. “When I asked them about why—why this is different from any other kind of travel—what they said was the expectation that when students and families go to tournaments, they’re going to be spending most of their time off the field, together with multiple households in the same setting,” Luizzi said.

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After One-Time Suspension, Board of Ed To Reinstate Public Comments Monday

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After suspending the practice for one meeting, members of the Board of Education said last week that they’re hoping to find a secure way for the public to offer comment before the elected body during remote meetings in the future. Receiving people’s emails isn’t an adequate substitute for the live public comment period that’s part of regular meeting agendas, according to Board member Dionna Carlson. 

“I wouldn’t want to see this going to the emails that just come to the Board, because that’s not public,” Carlson said during the Board’s March 30 meeting, held via videoconference. 

“There is a lot going on right now and I do think we need to find a way for the public to be able to address us through the digital platform,” Carlson said. She added, “I think it is is important for us to see and hear the public and for the remainder of the public to see what is being addressed to the Board. So I would not want to see this go to emails and things like that. We just need to figure out how to work with [New Canaan Public Schools Technology Services] to keep these random things off the Zoom platform or go to a different platform that is more secure.”

She referred to inappropriate material that appeared during recent public meetings held by other municipal bodies in New Canaan on Zoom videoconferencing software—a practice known as “Zoom-bombing.”

Board member Bob Naughton suggested the district look into webinar platforms that require advance registration. 

Board Vice Chair Brendan Hayes said it was a good idea to “pre-clear those who are going to speak.”

“It is a bit difficult, I think, but my guess is we are not going to have a huge number of people during this period of time,” he said.